Abivard
in TST and The Thousand Cities only) |appearance=''The Stolen Throne'' through Videssos Besieged |nationality = Makuran |religion = Makuraner Religion |occupation = Dihqan, General, , Monarch |parents = Godarz and Burzoe |spouse = Roshnani, numerous others |political office= King of Kings of Makuran |children = Varaz Shahin Zarmidukh Gulshar, another }}Abivard was a minor dihqan and one of the most trusted generals of Sharbaraz, King of Kings of Makuran. His sister, Denak, married Sharbaraz, making him brother-in-law to the King of Kings. Later, he led a successful rebellion and usurped the throne, ruling as King of Kings himself. His father, Godarz, and brothers were killed in the same battle where Peroz King of Kings was killed. He was only saved from being caught in the same trap when his horse stepped in a hole on the ground. Once he got home and took charge of his clan's Vek Rud River domain, he quickly married Roshnani, the daughter of a neighboring diqhan he found out that, Smerdis, brother of Peroz, had taken the throne instead of Sharbaraz, the son and rightful heir to the throne. He soon found out from his sister Denak in Nalgis Crag that Sharbaraz had been kidnapped and forced to yield the succession. He hatched a plan and using magical trickery with the help of his sister and his seer, Tanshar, Abivard freed Sharbaraz from Nalgis Crag stronghold and escaped with him to his own domain. Along the way, Denak revealed that she let herself be raped in order to free Sharbaraz, upon which Sharbaraz married her on the spot. He organized Sharbaraz's army and helped make the victories on the road to Mashiz. He was unusually tolerant with his wives and the other women of the stronghold, and actually violated long-established custom in allowing his wife to accompany him on campaign. It was during the rebellion that he learned the command skills that would help him in fighting the Empire of Videssos. When the army of Sharbaraz was finally in front of Mashiz, he helped keep it from collapsing. It was his wife, Roshnani, who came up with the idea that the rebels should receive Videssian aid in order to survive. When Abivard put this idea to Sharbaraz, Sharbaraz was forced to accept it. During the Videssian and Makuraner bargaining process, it was he who came up the idea that Sharbaraz give up the mines of Vaspurakan to the Avtokrator Likinios in exchange for Videssian support. When Sharbaraz was put back on the throne, the King of Kings made him the marshal of his army and put him in charge of invading Videssos. Under his command, the Makuraners routed the Videssians repeatedly, conquering a large swath of the Videssian westlands. He was able to defeat the forces of Tzikas and then routed the forces of Maniakes coming up in support. This victory forced the Videssians to retreat to Videssos the city, essentially abandoning the Westlands to the Makuraners. Abivard was thus the first Makuraner general to capture Across. He then implored the Videssian Avtokrator Maniakes to surrender, which Maniakes refused. From then on, he kept on a steady stream of correspondence with Maniakes, with whom he had been friendly while on the campaign that put Sharbaraz on that throne. He also informed the Avtokrator that the latter's emissary had been jailed in Mashiz by his sovereign (the emissary later died in prison;Maniakes swore to avenge him). From then on, Abivard soon got disillusioned with his monarch, who had lost touch with reality in the ground and demanded that he take Videssos the city despite the fact that it was essentially impossible. He left with his army to Vaspurakan when the people there rebelled due to Sharbaraz's imposition of the faith of the God, and disobeyed his sovereign's orders to negotiate a peace with the Vaspurakaners in exchange for an end to the rebellion. Sharbaraz was immensely displeased and ordered him with his family back to Mashiz, where they were set up in a royal apartment in the palace at Mashiz, and kept on the shelf for the whole winter. When Maniakes Avtokrator launched his invasion of the Land of the Thousand Cities, Sharbaraz was forced to use Abivard to command the bowmen and small Makuraner forces available to defend the area. Despite suffering defeats, Abivard turned the troops from a band of peasant militia into a real army, and was able to thwart the Videssian plans to some degree. He developed a grudge against the Videssian renegade Tzikas as the two competed for the favor of the King of Kings. While Tzikas told tales on him to Sharbaraz Abivard arranged for Tzikas to be recaptured by the Videssians, but Tzikas was able to survive and returned to the Makuraners before long. When Abivard decided to execute him, it was found that he had escaped, but he rode to Mashiz instead of back to Maniakes. Abivard sent a message to Romezan, his old second-in-command in the Makuraner field army, asking him to take the lancers and join with Abivard's own forces in the Thousand Cities, to which Romezan acceded, defying the order of the King of Kings. When Maniakes returned to his own capital, Sharbaraz recalled him to Mashiz, but he was (apparently) under less disfavor than before. He attempted to duel with Tzikas but Sharbaraz needed both officers for a plan he intended to put into action the next summer. After a winter of waiting, Sharbaraz finally explained the plan. He had sent an embassy to the Kubratoi, and intended to lay siege to Videssos the city with their help, using their boats to transport Makuraners over the Cattle-Crossing. Abivard took command of the Makuraner field forces, and began to execute Sharbaraz's plans, but they were not wholly successful. The Videssian fleet smashed the Kubratoi monoxyla, and although some Makuraner engineers made it across the strait the assault on the capital's walls failed. Sharbaraz blamed Abivard for these failures, and eventually ordered him executed. In a stroke of luck, Maniakes intercepted the order and showed it to Abivard. Abivard's wife Roshnani came up with the plan to add hundreds of names to Abivard's, knowing that the edited order would incite a mutiny among the Makuraners. This duly occurred, and Romezan and the rest of the Makuraner troops declared loyalty to Abivard, renouncing the King of Kings. Abivard negotiated with Maniakes and agreed to return the bordern between Makuran and Videssos to its prewar state in exchange for Maniakes' support in the campaign against Sharbaraz. Abivard duly withdrew from the Westlands, bringing his field army into Makuran, where they easily defeated the small number of soldiers who remained loyal to Sharbaraz. Despite the fact that Abivard's nephew, his sister Denak's son, was Sharbaraz's rightful heir, he assumed the throne himself soon after capturing Mashiz and executing Sharbaraz. Abivard was a just man with a mild temper, traits he inherited from his father Godarz. He was notably liberal, showing a willingness to bend and even break the Makuraner custom of keeping women locked away in their own quarters. His attitudes on women were softened significantly during his time in Videssos, and Videssian tutors did much of the work in raising his children. He was also a very able general, winning many victories throughout his military career. He often noted that his wife Roshnani was a great help to him as her wits were at least equal to his own. References Category:Makuraners Category:Abivard's Family Category:Dihqans Category:Former POVs Category:Generals Category:Kings of Kings of Makuran Category:Leaders Who Took Power by Coup (Fictional Work) Category:Makuraner Religionists Category:Soldiers of the Time of Troubles Category:Supreme Military Commanders